Hackers Are Now Targeting Your Router

It’s time for a router emergency call to 911. You knew about hackers stealing our credit cards from retailers, the NSA spying on anyone who picked up a cellphone or writes an email, and ad trackers watching our every move and purchase.

Hang on, we’ve got a string of recent reports of router vulnerabilities. Backdoors have been found in NetGear and Linksys routers , two of the biggest sellers. A host of other brand names including D-Link, Micronet, Tenda and others have also been the subject of mass attacks that let hackers hijack your browser, produce fake search results, and download malware into all the devices connected to your network.

1) You need to do a geeky thing called “updating the firmware.” Every router maker’s process is a little different, but here’s the basic outline.

2) Make sure you turn on wireless encryption and provide a strong password. Strong passwords are a pain, but for your home network you just have to enter it once for each gadget. Just remember to keep it written down in a safe place in case you forget it.